Laser imagers are widely used in the medical imaging field to produce visual representations on film of digital medical images. Laser imagers typical include a media supply system, a feeder system, an exposure system, a processing system, an output system (e.g. output tray, sorter), and a transport system that moves film through the laser imager along a transport path from the media supply system to the output system. The media supply system generally includes a supply of sheets of photothermographic media stacked in one or more cassettes or trays and a pickup assembly for removing individual sheets from the cassettes for delivery to the feeder assembly.
Laser imagers have typically segregated the functions of extracting film sheets from the cassettes, exposing the extracted sheet, and processing or developing the exposed sheet. In order to provide faster time to first image and increased film throughput, some laser imaging systems are now designed so as to begin processing a sheet while it is still being exposed, a so-called processing-while-imaging system. However, to avoid sheet disturbances associated with the extraction of sheets from the cassettes from impacting image quality, conventional laser imagers continue to separate the extraction process from the exposure process.
While such systems may have achieved certain degrees of success in their particular applications, there is a need to provide an improved system and method for decreasing time to first image and increasing film throughput in laser imaging systems employing photothermographic imaging media.